If you think you have some relatives who are big eaters, at the third annual MLE [Major League Eating] Chowdown: Turkey Bowl today, eight “professional eaters” will compete big-time, gobbling down entire 20-pound birds. The winner will eat his or her bird in eight minutes or less, or as much of it as possible. (Please—don’t try this at home!) Competitors in food contests are extreme athletes who train all year, working on jaw strength and stomach capacity. Contrary to assumption, contestants in national food competitions are not overweight. Surely, you’ve seen Takeru Kobayashi,the slender, six-time winner of Nathan’s Coney Island hot-dog eating contest—won this year by the normal-size Joey Chestnut. Both will be competing in the Turkey Bowl, along with six other top competitive eaters.

The International Federation of Competitive Eating organizes about 80 eating contests a year in the U.S. alone, 100 total in 2006, including Canada, England, Germany, Japan and Thailand. The Turkey Bowl will be nationally televised today on Spike TV at 11 a.m. and 7 p.m.

Alpine Ice, makers of all-natural sorbets, is now kosher-certified (by Kosher Technical Konsultants), vegan-certified and free of all major food allergens (no soy, egg, wheat, nuts or dairy). The company was included in our “Who’s Who In American Frozen Desserts,” published last year in THE NIBBLE online magazine. The products are an alternative for people who are sensitive to a variety of foods. The base is made of herbs, fruit and flowers and erythritol, a low-glycemic sweetener. Flavors include Bolder Berry, Green Tea Verbena, Hibiscus Rose, Mango Passion and Plum Lucky. People looking for nut-free frozen dessert lines should also check out Bedford Nut Free Ice Cream, made for people with food allergies. It’s made in Massachusetts. There’s nothing on the one-page website but an email address and a phone number: Contact ahiabuhamdeh@yahoo.com, 1.978.330.5914. We haven’t tried it; if you do, let us know what you think. To see our favorite gourmet ice creams and sorbets, visit the Desserts Section of THE NIBBLE.

Trying to be more environmentally friendly, some restaurants are creating a new trend by eschewing bottled waters, installing water filtration systems and creating their own flavor-infused waters. As reported by Nations Restaurant News, restaurateurs on both coasts are creating tempting water options for demanding patrons. Here are some examples of what you can expect as the trend spreads nationwide:

– Broadway East, opening next month in New York City, will have no bottled water whatsoever for sale. A comprehensive filtering system will filter the city water the moment it enters the building. Guests can have the filtered still water in a carafe for free, and house-carbonated water for $3 per liter.

– At Coi restaurant in San Francisco, hydrosol, a by-product of essential oil production, is used to create exotic flavored waters. Added to glasses of still or sparkling water by the dropperful, it creates flavors such as chrysanthemum, lime, passionfruit and rose, which complement the restaurant’s cuisine.

– District restaurant, in New York City’s theater district, has a water-filtering system that fills reusable bottles with still or sparkling filtered water (at a $5 per bottle charge). The chef prepares seasonal flavors by making fruit purées and straining out the pulp to produce a clear liquid. Winter flavors planned include cucumber and lemon grass, plum and fresh ginger, and yuzu.

– At Graffiti, another new restaurant in Manhattan, the fenugreek water is evocative of the owner’s Bombay childhood. Fenugreek seeds are soaked in water overnight to infused the water. Recent studies have suggested that fenugreek is useful in lowering blood cholesterol and in helping to control diabetes.

Can you really eat all this without feeling
more stuffed than that turkey?

Not that we didn’t have an inkling, but the average person eats 4,500 calories and 229 grams of fat on Thanksgiving, according to the New York Times. Starting with cocktails before dinner—and perhaps some mixed spiced nuts and fat-laden dips—those calories and fats start to pile up. The butter on the Brussels sprouts and the biscuits, the sugar in the cranberries, the carbs in the stuffing…oh sure, be the Grinch Who Ruined Thanksgiving. Here’s our solution:
– No calorie-laden cocktails, just wine spritzers, nicely diluted with club soda.
– Steer clear of the hors d’oeuvres—not just because of the calories, but because they will fill you up and you’ll be in pain before dessert arrives.
– Eat lots of roast turkey—the most low calorie and healthy food on the table—and just take quarter-cup portions of everything else.

– Forget the biscuits and cornbread—you can have them any day of the year. They’ll just fill you up and cause your buttons to pop. Have two bites if you must; then roll the rest up in a napkin, out of sight. Ask to take a piece home for breakfast. Save your calories for dessert.
– Drink judiciously through dinner. Alternate every glass of wine with a glass of water.
– If you’re too full for dessert, have a bite and ask to take the rest home. Then you won’t feel left out.The key thing to remember is that your family or friends will be happy to send you home with a plate of food. You don’t have to eat it all in one meal: You can enjoy the rest tomorrow. And if you live in the home where the dinner is being served—it will be there for the next two or three days! Follow these tips and you won’t go into a “food coma.” Yes, we have a lot to be thankful for—including the bounty set before us. But we can also be thankful for the will not to eat it all.